A few days ago, his time as Cosmos’ commissioner of Internal Affairs ended. Zaki’s reason for staying in the association is simple: it was where he met his closest friends. The best way to explain it is, as he would describe it, “Cosmos is more of a community, that’s why I’m comfortable here.”
Besides that, Zaki was an active member of Technology for Global Development, or TGD, where he was a board member too. The reason he joined was because TGD is within his interest and how it’s trying to solve real world problems. Joining the team was also useful for his studies due to how he could apply the knowledge from Sustainable Innovation to his work at TGD, and vice versa.
Zaki is an avid supporter of extracurricular activities and therefore encourages everyone to do so. He reflects his time as a board member as challenging, yet very rewarding. This is Zaki’s testimony to everyone who hesitates in joining one:
“In the Netherlands, there’s an association for everything. You’ll hopefully connect with some people that have similar interests as you and I recommend it. Because why not? Give it a shot. There’s no pressure at all. I don’t think any association would pressure you to come all the time. To me, I see it as a ‘why not?’”